'Truth spoken without moderation reverses itself'
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Saturday, February 18, 2017

In an explosive
60-page note that Kalikho Pul wrote one day before he killed himself in
Itanagar last August, the former chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh has
levelled serious allegations of corruption against constitutional functionaries
and a host of top politicians in the state – including current chief minister
Pema Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein. The note, whose
existence was first disclosed to
the media by the former Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad
Rajkhowa last October, has remained under wraps since it was first discovered
alongside Pul’s body on August 9, 2016. Its contents have remained the subject
of intense speculation until today.

Sealed copies of the
note were seized by the police when it arrived on the scene but nothing has
been heard of Pul’s allegations since then. The Wire’s Hindi
site, which has obtained a copy of the note – titled ‘Mere Vichaar’ or ‘My
Thoughts’ – is publishing it in its
entirety today because it believes the people of Arunachal Pradesh and
the rest of the India have the right to know what prompted the former
chief minister to take his own life. An English translation is available here.

The Wire is not in a position to verify the
accuracy of the allegations that Pul has made in the note but believes the
circumstances of its drafting – it is akin to a dying declaration of sorts –
and the gravity of charges warrant an independent investigation. So far, neither
the state government, which is today in the hands of Pema Khandu of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, nor the Centre, has bothered to order a probe into the
note’s wrenching allegations. This makes it all the more important that its
broad details be brought into the public domain. The note, typed in
Hindi with Pul’s signature on every page, has been scanned by The Wire and
is available at www.thewirehindi.com.

The note makes
allegations of corruption against a number of individuals, including
politicians from the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Pul, a
Congress leader who revolted against the Congress-led Nabam Tuki government in
2015, became chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for four-and-a-half months in
2016 before the Supreme Court held the dismissal of the Tuki government at
the hands of Governor Rajkhowa to be unconstitutional. Pul resigned on July 13,
2016, the day the court gave its ruling. A broken and disillusioned man, he
killed himself on August 8, 2016.

Due to the sensitive
nature of the claims the note contains, we have redacted some of the names and
details involved. Pul believes the Supreme Court was wrong to eventually
rule in favour of Nabam Tuki, the Congress chief minister with whom he broke in
2015. In Pul’s telling, Tuki, his erstwhile ally, Pema Khandu, who is now in
the BJP, and Khandu’s late father, Dorjee Khandu, milked the state exchequer
for years, especially by manipulating funds intended for the public
distribution system (PDS), as well as relief funds. The Wire is
not in a position to independently corroborate these allegations… read more: